Sparks
by CommanderLavellan
Summary: Scarlett asked the Commander for a moment alone to speak. (Some original dialogue used from the first kiss you get with Cullen in Skyhold, but not much.)


**Name:** Scarlett Dusthorn

 **Class:** Mage

 **Mage Type:** Storm Mage

 **Specialization:** Rift Mage

 **Age:** 29

 **Hair Color:** Strawberry Blonde (Apricot?)

 **Eye Color:** Left eye is a mix of green and blue (around the pupil is a light blue while a dark green is in the surrounding area) while the right eye is a mixture of dark and light grey (iridescent)

 **Skin:** Light Tan

Origin: Scarlett was an unknown when brought to the Kirkwall Circle from the Circle in Rivain, Dairsmuid. Even in Rivain little was known about her, but she was highly regarded by the Senior Enchanter in her magical abilities. She is exceptional with enchanting and extraordinary with focus. The Templar's in the Rivain Circle always worried about her, powerful mages were more susceptible to Demons but were extremely resistant as well. She was always under close watch and she did not mind. Near the end of her time in the Rivain Circle, she spoke to a Chantry Sister about some of her past. When her Magical abilities manifested she was only four. Her parents were scared out of their wits and tried to kill her on a 'family outing.' She didn't know what happened, one second they were alive, hatchets in hands and hatred in their eyes, and the next second they were on the ground with their faces blank and their eyes dead. She accounted for seeing large men and women, jumping from tree to tree above her. One of the women sat on a branch closer to the ground, a soft smile was her lips, her body painted to match the dull color of the forest but Scarlett could see her, her eyes were a piercing gold, they lit up the forest around her. Than she was gone, running off with the rest of the group. She did not inform the Sister why it took Templar's so long to find her or where she ran after that, but she finally gave someone her real name. Scarlett Dusthorn. She was tired of being called _Apprentice_ or _Witch_. She was brought to the Kirkwall Circle in 9:31 and took her Harrowing only 5 months after her arrival. In 9:35 she was put on trial for rumors of her being a blood mage. The rumors proved false before the trial officially began but Knight-Commander Meredith kept a close eye on her. Scarlett become close friends with Bethany Hawke, taking her under her wing when she arrived at the Circle. By the Mage Rebellion, both Bethany and Scarlett were Junior Enchanters. During the Annulment of Kirkwall's Circle, when Scarlett saw Bethany back with her sister, she fled. Running through an underground passage that lead to the Wounded Coast. A few templar's followed her, but she easily struck them down and left the Free Marches. She was presumed to be dead by Knight-Captain Cullen.

* * *

 **Title:** Sparks

 **Rating:** T

 **Pairing:** Cullen/Scarlett Dusthorn (OC Inquisitor)

 **Genre:** Fluff/Romance

 **Word Count:** 1,706

 **Summary:** Scarlett asked the Commander for a moment alone to speak. (Some original dialogue used from the first kiss you get with Cullen in Skyhold, but not much.)

* * *

"Oh, Inquisitor," Cullen set down his reports and walked around his desk as Scarlett walked in, "Is there something you needed?"

Scarlett's face tilting slightly, both her hands wrapping around the back of her neck as she tilted her head down to hide her blush, "W—Well...I was hoping...could we speak privately—wait, no...speak alone? No...we—we are alone umm..." Scarlett turned her head to look at the door as a guard entered, biting her finger.

"Can weeee...uh..." Scarlett shut her eyes tight and shook her head, " _Frick_."

Cullen couldn't help but smile, motioning with his head for Scarlett to follow him, "Of course." Scarlett followed behind him, walking out the door where the guard walked in from. Cullen brought her to the edge of the ramparts, next to where Varric introduced herself to Hawke.

"It's a nice day." Cullen commented as they walked, one hand wrapping around the pommel of his sword and the other rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hmm?" Scarlett stopped to look up at Cullen, blinking a couple of time before shaking her head, "I—urmm..."

Cullen inwardly cursed at himself and stopped walking, turning to Scarlett, "You wished to discuss something, yes?"

"Y—Yes, I—We've… _Frick_ , okay." Scarlett took a deep breath and shut her eyes, "We've known each other for...Maker, ten years now?"

"Yes, give or take." Cullen nodded, turning his head to the side and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes. Ten years and during those years I've...ummm..." Scarlett tilted her head down, turning away from Cullen to lean her arms against the rampart wall, "I've come to, well...I've come to care for you and...Ugh! We met in Kirkwall, we fought against each other in Kirkwall—You left the templar order, you left Kirkwall but..."

"But what?" Cullen moved next to her, mimicking her actions and leaning against the wall next to her.

"Kirkwall was...horrible. Mages are to blame for everything that happened in Kirkwall and—"

"What are you talking about?" Cullen shook his head, "Yes, a mage did blow up the Chantry but _mages_ are not to blame, _you_ are not to blame...You're starting to sound like a templar."

Scarlett rolled her eyes, nudging Cullen with her shoulder as he laughed, "That coming from a templar."

" _Ex_ -templar." Cullen reminded her, smiling. Scarlett turned her head down, rubbing the back of her neck, "Could you...do you trust mages, Cullen? Could you trust... _me_?"

Cullen turned his head, facing away from Skyhold and towards the mountains, "We've been through a lot, _Scar_. Your Harrowing, your training, your trial, the rebellion...You had a chance to kill me in Kirkwall and...I don't know if you remember—"

"I do." Scarlett looked at him, her voice soft, "I didn't want to—couldn't even if I did...You and Thrask were the only Templar's who never suspected me of blood magic, you both protected me from Meredith and even though we were on opposed sides I couldn't kill you."

"And if I had come at you?" Cullen leaned up, furrowing his brows at her, "What than?"

Scarlett shook her head, "The Right of Annulment was in process—if I didn't die from you I would have died from another Templar and I rather it had been another templar. So I ran."

"How _did_ you get out?" Cullen leaned back against the wall, "After I saw you...I thought you had died."

"In Lowtown, there's an underground passage that leads to the Wounded Coast. A few templars followed me but I..." Scarlett turned her head away, mumbling, "You know I didn't like using my magic back then. Meredith had implanted into my brain that I was cursed, that the Maker hated me—templar's were here to protect us when in reality you were protecting everything _but_ us."

"And now?" Cullen asked, "Do you still think the Maker hates you?"

"Now?" Scarlett sighed, "Hell, yeah. I woke up in chains, the first thing I saw was Cassandra's death glare and one of Leliana's damn crows sitting on my chest. I am in the middle of a war I want nothing to do with but need to be involved in because I literally don't have a choice in my life."

"And your magic?"

"...I've come to tolerate it. Maker knows I hate using it, but hell if I'm going to die when I've been given a second chance to live." Scarlett frowned, moving her left hand in front of her face as the Anchor started to glow, "Corypheus is now my enemy, he's tried killing me once and all it's done it piss me off and give me an advantage. Next time I see him, he's dead—I'll do more than Hawke did. I'll tear the bloody bastard apart, limb by limb, if it means killing him for good."

"Wow." Cullen breathed out, a small laugh escaping his lips after a long moment, "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

Scarlett smiled at him, shutting her palm as the Anchor's glow faded, "You never could—Not after all the shit we've been through." Cullen's cheek lightly flushed, he cleared his throat and looked away as Scarlett continued.

"B—Back to what I was saying," Scarlett cleared her own throat and turned back to the mountains, "You didn't really give an answer..."

"I trust you." Cullen nodded, looking at her, "And I...I care for you too. I've thought about this—what I would say if you ever admitted to liking me—"

"H—Hey!" Scarlett stood up straight, " _I_ had to admit it? Why not you?"

Cullen smirked and moved to lean against his side, "Because I wouldn't get to see this."

" _This_?" Scarlett furrowed her brows, confused.

"The stuttering, the embarrassment," Cullen stood up and pinched her cheek, smiling, "The _blushing_ —"

Scarlett gasped and waved his hand away, "Maker, you've changed, Cullen—wait, what you would say? What would you say, Cullen?"

Cullen rubbed the back of his neck, staring at Skyhold, "You're the Inquisitor, Scarlett, and we're at war—which is even worse...and I honestly thought it wouldn't be possible, that I was reading into this."

Scarlett smiled a little, "That's shocking." Cullen took a step towards her, Scarlett moving back against the wall. Cullen brought his hand up, lightly grazing his gloves fingers against her cheek.

A small smile formed on Cullen's lips, "A part of me...a large part of me, always wanted this but you were a mage and I was..."

"I _am_ a mage, you _were_ a templar." Scarlett mumbled, lightly pressing her cheek against his fingers, "Stupid idea...that we would ever be more than what we are or...were."

"If it's so stupid," Cullen leaned down towards her, "Why are you still here?"

"Well...you are too." Scarlett's eyes stayed fixed on Cullen as his lips grew closer, inches apart. Their lips were a few centimeters apart when he whispered, "Why are your eyes open?"

"I...I needed to make sure that...you aren't going to back out, run away...I..." Scarlett blushed when Cullen's lips turned into a smirk.

Cullen took her hand in his own, the other cupping her cheek as his lips lightly grazed against hers, "I'm not going anywh—"

"Commander!"

Scarlett quickly moved out of Cullen's grasp, turning around and face away from Jim as he walked towards them. Her face was as red as a tomato, her fingers were shaking, everything was shaking. Cullen face contorted into annoyance as he turned to glare at the young man.

"You wanted a copy of Sister Leliana's report." Jim took a step closer to the two.

Cullen growled, "What?"

"Sister Leliana's report. You wanted it delivered ' _without delay_.'" Jim spoke again, oblivious to what was going on only moments ago. Scarlett couldn't help but feel bad for the young man, Cullen would surely give him his due next time in training. Maker...what did they almost do? She was mortified—too mortified to turn around, she would rather just run and hide until Cullen forgot about this but she was frozen to the spot. Maker, what the others would say. Dorian would laugh, Varric would surely write a tale about how the illustrious Inquisitor can't even kiss someone without running away in terror. She couldn't even imagine what Bethany might of thought about this. Maker, she's been pushing her to confront Cullen since she saw them interact for the first time.

"Or—to your office...right..." She turned her head a little to see Jim taking a few steps back, a petrified look on his face as Cullen continued to glare.

Scarlett spoke quickly and stood up straight, once Jim had ran away, "I should go. This was stupid, I shouldn't have—" Cullen turned back to Scarlett, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her towards him. Cullen's lips pressed against her own, hard enough to push her back against the wall. Cullen's hand slipped behind Scarlett's neck, gloved fingers lacing into her hair. He swiped his tongue against the seam of Scarlett's lips and her mouth fell open, parting on a sigh. She kissed Cullen slowly, thoroughly, as if they had all the time in the world, then a _spark_. Cullen pulled back quickly when he felt the zap of electricity against his lips. Scarlett was standing frozen, her eyes wide and her hands covering her mouth.

"D—Did...did you just..?"

"I—I don't know!" Scarlett was in a panic, her hands falling down from her face to look down at them, "I—I didn't mean—Maker, Cullen, I'm—Mmm!" Cullen didn't give Scarlett another moment, turning to her and forcefully pulling her to him. Their lips connected, and Scarlett's eyes fell shut immediately. Her fingers clung around the straps from his armor, pulling him down against her. Makers breath, is this what she's been missing? She wouldn't deny that her magic played a part in the kiss, she knew Cullen had felt it too. Cullen pulled back after a few moments, smirking down at Scarlett as she tried to recover from the kiss.

"... _W_ _ow_." Scarlett breathed out after a minute, opening her eyes to look up at Cullen, "That was really nice."

"Exactly what I wanted." Cullen laughed, placing his hands on her cheeks and leaning down for another kiss.


End file.
